Locomotive throttle attachment



Sept. 10, 1929.

L. ADKISSON LOGOMOTIVE THROTTLE ATTACHMENT Filed Oct. 6, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fnz entar Attornqy s t. 10, 1929. ADKISSON 1,727,626

LOCOMOTIVE THROTTLE ATTACHMENT Filed Oct. 6, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor .l/onmle Ad/risson v Patented Sept. 10, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE. v

LONNIE ADKISSON, or LOUIS ILLE, KENTUCKY.

LOCOMOTIVE THROTTLE ATTACHMENT.

Application filed October 6, 1927. Serial No. 224,405.

but forces the engineer to movethe throttle to an idling position first and then perform a certain releasing operation which w ll allow him to completely close the throttle.

Very frequently, an engineer is-forced to bring his locomotive and train to a sudden stop and in certain instances, the engineer naturally becomes excited and shuts the throttle completely off with one throw which -immediately admits air into the cylinder to replace the superheated steam and this sudden cooling causes considerable damage as is well recognized in this art. I realize that other attempts have been madeto solve this problem, examples of which will be found in Letters Patent Nos. 1,4;27,969 and 1,564,465. It is an important object of my invention to improve upon the structures shown in these patents toprovide a device which is simpler in its construction, truly in the nature of an attachment in its capability of operative association with mechanisms now in common use and inexpensive to install.

A still further important object of the invention resides in the provision of an attachment of this nature which is thoroughly efficient and reliable in its operation, easy to manipulate, strong and durable, not likely to easily become out of order, adjustable to an operative or inoperative relationship with the throttle and otherwise well adapted to the purpose for which it is designed.

lVith the. above and numerous other objects in view as will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in certain novel features of construction, and in the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the drawing e Figure 1 is a top plan view of a throttle wit Figure 2 is a. perspective view of those portions of the attachment mounted on the boiler,

fFigure 3 is a sectional side elevation there- 0 p I Figure 4 is an enlarged detail sectional vlew taken transversely therethrough, substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 3,

Figure 5 is another transverse section therethrough taken substantially on the line 55 of Figure 2, i

Figure 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of the throttle controller with portions of my attachment associated therewith,

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the adjusting member, and, p

Figure 8 is a fragmentary perspective View of the sliding bolt. 7 1

Referring to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the numeral 5 denotes a bracket arm attached to the cabin endof the boiler 6 in the usual Well known manner.

The controller is pivotally [engaged at one end to the end of the bracket arm 5 as is indicated at 8and'l1as the usual engage ment intermediate its ends with the throttle rod 9. The numeral 10 denotes the usual rack engageable by the sliding dog 11 on the controller 7, this sliding. dag 11 having a shank 12 with a link connection to a4 hand lever 13, the link being indicated specifically by the numeral 14. All the parts thus far described are of well known construction A and now in actual use upon locomotives a-way'from the rack 10. T he upper position of the controller 7 is Figure 1, that is, when its free end is close to the boiler is the off position andthe free end is moved away from the boiler to turn on the steam, that is, open the throttle valve. f

As soon as the hand lever 13 is released, a spring, not shown, returns the dog 1nember 11 into engagement with the rack 10-as will be apparent to those skilled in this art.

Referring now to the'details'of my attachment, it willbe seen that theletter 'B denotes generally a bracket comprising a plate 16 which is secured to the end of the boiler in the cabin by any suitable fastening means. An arm 17 projects outwardly or laterally from the plate 16 and has a longitudinally extending slot 18 formed therein. An inclined brace arm 19 is connected with. the outer end of the arm 17 and with the lower portion of the plate 16. The arm 17 is formed in its upper surface with a longitudinally extending channel or recess 20. A shank 21v is slidableinz the recess and a bolt 22 is threadedly engaged therewith and extends through the slot 18' so that the-shank 21 may be locked onto the arm 17 in different adjusted extended position. The outer end of this shank merges into an enlarged head portion 23 which is formed with atransversely eXt-ending bore 24 that slidably receives a bolt 25 having an .upstanding shoulder 26 projecting through an opening 27 in the top'of the head which communicates with the'bore 24. A plate 28 is fixedon one side ofthe head 23 to extend partially'over one open end of the bore 24 and has an opening for slidably receiving a.

rod 29, the outer end of which has threadedly engaged thereon a stop nut 30. The other end of the rod 28, is threadedly engaged in an opening 3'1 provided in the upstanding lug 26. A spring 32 of the coil type is disposed about the rod 29 and impinges against the lug 26 and the plate 28 so as to normally hold the rounded nose-like end 25 of the bolt 25 extended as is illustrated in Figure ,5 so that the lug 26 abuts one end of the opening 27, A latch 34 is pivoted as at 35 on top' of the head 23 adjacent the shank 21 and extends outwardly from the shank to provide an inclined'edge 36 and a stop shoulder 37 and a finger 38 which is engageable by the lug 26. A stem 39 .is rotatable in an opening in the head 23 and has an eccentric pin 40 at its upper end and a wing-like knob 41 on its other end, said other end is formed with a transverse opening 42 to receive a cotter pin 43 that extends I through a depending lug 44 on the head 23 i may be held in different adjusted positions. I

so that "this stem withits eccentric pin 40 r A horizontal L-shaped finger 47 is fixed in any. preferred manner as at 48 to the shank 12 of the dog member 11; The parts are so disposed that when the eccentric pin 40 is in its released position, that is, allows the latch 34to swingso that'the lug 26 may abut the end of the opening 2721s shown in Figwith the rack 10 and simultaneously with.

this action the finger 47, in Fig. 1, moves to the left and abuts the latch 34 so as to swing said latch, in Fig. 1, in a clockwise direction, out of the path of movement of the finger45. Thus the operator may then actuate the lever 13 to again release the dog member 11 and push the controller, 7 all the way forward to a completely closed position.

In opening the throttle the controller 7 is moved outwardly from the boiler and the finger45 will engage the inclined edge 36 so as to swing the latch, in Fig. 1, in a clockwise direction so as to push the bolt to the left of this finger and compress the spring 32 so that as soon as the controller has been pushed out farther, this spring 32 will again extend the nose 25 outwardly and cause the lug '26.t-o abut the end of the opening 27 thereby swinging the latch 34 in a counterclockwise direction and leaving its shoulder 37 in the path of movement of the finger 45. Thus the throttle cannot be completely closed in one actuation. This is very important in the superheated steam locomotives now in use because when an engineer suddenly locates an obstacle or obstruction on the track, he naturally becomes somewhat excited and tends to throw oil? the throttle as quickly as possible, and if the throttle is completelythrown olf, great damage will be done to the cylinder. lVith this device, however, the engineer is only able to throw the throttle in an idling position and then must hesitate momentarily before completely closing the throttle and this has been found sufiicient to prevent any excessive damage.

It is thought thatthe construction, operation, utility, and advantages of this invention will now be quite apparent to those skilled in this art without a more detailed description. It will be seen that at times this attachment will not be desirable as in shifting about the roundhouse, and in the yards, and therefore I have provided the structure for actuating the pin 40 so that the latch 34 and associated parts may be pushed out' of the way to an inactive position.

The present embodiment of the invention however, has been disclosed in detail merely by way of example since in actual practice it attains the features of advantage enumer ated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description. It will be apparent that changes in the details of construction, and in the combination and arragement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed or sacrificing any of its advantages.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is I I 1. An attachment of the class described for the throttle controlling mechanism wherein the mechanism includes a dog structure of a locomotive; comprising a head, a latch pivotally mounted on the head, a bolt slidable in the head and having one end projectable therefrom, a lug projecting laterally from the bolt to engage the latch, spring means operatively connected with the bolt i'or normally holding said one end extended and said lug in a position to place the latch in a predetermined position, a stop finger on the controller of the mechanism for engaging the extended end of the bolt to move the same inwardly, and a releasing finger on the dog structure of the controller and movable therewith to actuate the latch in an out of the way position from the first finger.

2. An attachment of the class described for the throttle controlling mechanism wherein the mechanism-includes a dog structure of a locomotive; comprising a head, a latch pivot-ally mounted on the head, a bolt slidable in the head andhaving one end projectable therefrom, a lug projecting laterally from the bolt to engage the latch, spring means operatively connected with the bolt for normally holding said one end extended and said lug in a position to place the latch in a predetermined position, a stop finger on the controller of themechanism for engaging the extended end of the bolt to move the same inwardly, and a releasing finger on the dog structure of the controller and movable therewith to actuate the latch in an out of the way position from the first finger, said latch having a stop shoulder for engagement by the stop finger and an inclined edge engageable by the stop finger.

3. An attachment of the class described for the throttle controlling mechanism wherein the mechanism includes a dog structure of a locomotive; comprising a head, a

latch pivotally mounted on the head, a bolt slidable in the head and having one end projectable therefrom, a lug projecting laterally from the bolt to engage the latch, spring means operatively connected with the bolt for normally holding said one end extended and said lug in a position to place the latch in a predetermined position, a stop finger on the controller of the mechanism for engaging the extended end of the bolt to move the same inwardly, and a releasing finger on the dog structure of the controller and movable therewith to actuate the latch in an out of the way position from the first finger,

said latch having a stop shoulder for en- 'gagement by the stop finger and an inclined edge engageable by the stop finger, shiftable means for holding the latch in an out of the way position when desired or for limiting the movement of the latch in one direction.

4:. In combination with the throttle control mechanism of a steam locomotive; wherein said mechanism comprises a pivotally mounted controller, a rack, a slidable dog member on the controller, a link engaged therewith, and a hand lever pivoted on the controller and engaged with the link so that the dogmay be engaged and released in respect to the rack; of an attachment comprising a head, a boltslidable transversely through the headfa latch pivoted on the head, a lug projecting from the bolt to engage the free end of the lat-clnspring means associated with the bolt to normally. hold one end thereof extended and the lug in engagement with the free end of the latch and the latch in a predetermined position, a finger fixed to the controller and abuttable with the extended end of the bolt to push the bolt inwardly and with the latch to be stopped by the latch, and a second finger fixed to the link and movable therewith so that the hand lever maybe actuated to cause this second finger to engage the latch when the bolt is retracted to push the latch out of the way of the first finger.

5. In combination with the throttle control mechanism of a steam locomotive; wherein said mechanism comprises a pivotally mounted controller, a rack, a slidable dog member on the controller, a link engaged therewith, and a hand lever pivoted on the controller and engaged with the link so that the dog may be engaged and released in respect to the rack; of an attachment comprising a head, a bolt slidable transversely through the head, a latch pivoted on the head, a lug projecting from the bolt to engage the free end of the latch, spring means associated with the bolt to normally hold one'end thereof extended and the lug in engagement with the free end of the latch and the latch in a predetermined position, a finger fixed to the controller and abuttable with the extended end of the bolt to push for adjustably mounting the head on the cabin end of a boiler.

6. In combination with the throttle contachment comprising a head, a bolt slidable trol mechanism of a steam locomotive; wherein said mechanism comprises a pivotally mounted controller, a rack, a slidable dog member on the controller, a link engaged therewith, and a hand lever pivoted onthe controller and engaged with the link so that the dog may be engaged and released in respect to the rack; of an attransversely through the head, a latch pivoted on the'head, a lug prO ecting from the bolt to engage the free end of the latch,

spring means associated with the bolt to normally hold one end thereof extended and the lug in engagement with the free end of the latch and the latch in a predetermined position, a finger fixed to the controller and abuttable with the extended end of the bolt to push the bolt inwardly and with the latch to be stopped by the latch, and a second finger fixed to the link and movable therewith so that the hand lever may be actuated to cause this second finger to engage the latch when the bolt is retracted to push vthe latch outof the way of the first finger, a shank extending from' the head, a bracket for attachment to the cabin head of a boiler,

an arm proj ecting. from the bracket and having a recess to slidably receive the shank, means for holding the shank in different adjusted extended positions in respect to said arm. i

7. In combination withthe throttle control mechanism of a steam locomotive; wherein said mechanism comprises a pivotally mounted controller, a rack, a slidable dog member on the controller, a link engaged therewith, and a hand lever pivoted on the controller and engaged with the link so that the dog may be engaged and released in respect to the rack; of an attachment comprising a head, a bolt slidable transversely through the head, a latch pivoted on the head, a lug projecting from the bolt to engage the free end of the latch, spring means associated with the bolt to normally hold one end thereof extended and the lug in engagement with the free end of the latch and the latch in a predetermined position, a finger fixed to the controller and abuttable with the extended end of the bolt to push the bolt inwardly and with the latch to be the cabin head of a boiler, an arm projecting from the bracket and having a recess to slidably receive the shank, said arm having a slot extending longitudinally of its recess, and a bolt threadedly engaged in the :shank and extending through the slot so that it may be tightened to hold the shank in different adjusted extended position.

8. In combination with the throttle control mechanism of a steam locomotive; wherein said mechanism comprises a pivotally mounted controller, a rack, a slidable dog member on the controller,-a link engaged therewith, and a hand lever pivoted on the controller and engaged with the link so that the dog may be engaged:and released in re spect to the rack; of an attachment comprising a head, a bolt slidable transversely through the head, a latch pivoted on the head, a lug projecting from the bolt to engage the free end of the latch, spring means associated with the bolt to normally hold one end thereof extended and the lug in engagement with the free end of the latch and the latch in a predetermined position, finger fixed to thecontrollerand abuttable with the extended end of the bolt to push the bolt inwardly and with the latch to be stopped by the latch, and asecond finger fixed to the link and movable therewith so that the hand, lever may be actuated to cause this second finger to engagev the latch when the bolt is retracted to push the latch out of the way of the first finger, said latch having a stop shoulder engageable by the first finger and an inclined edge engageable by the first finger, said stop shoulder preventing the complete inward throw of the controller and the inclined edge causing the movement of the latch to an out of the way position as the controller is initially moved to its on position. 1

9. In combination with the throttle control mechanism of a steam locomotive; wherein said mechanism comprises a pivotally mounted controller, a rack, a slidable dog member 'on the controller, a link engaged therewith, and a handlever pivoted on the controller and engaged with the link so that the dog may be engaged and released in respect to the rack; of an attachment comprising a head, a bolt slidable transversely through the head, a latch pivoted on the head, a lug projecting from the bolt toengage the free end of the latch, spring means associated with the bolt to normally hold one end thereof extended and the lug in engagement with thefree end of the latch and the latch in a predetermined position, a finger fixed to the controller andabuttable with the extended end of the bolt to push the bolt inwardly and with the latch to be stopped by the latch, and a second finger fixed to the link and movable therewith so that the hand lever may be actuated to cause this second. finger to engage the latch when the bolt is retracted to push thelatch out of the way of the first finger, a stem rotatable in the head, an eccentric pin mounted on the stem and abuttableiby the latch, so that the stem 

